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Speaker to find answers to opposition's questions

Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi will hold a meeting with leaders of major political parties to decide on the opposition's objection to the 'inadequate' reply of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani during the debate under Rule 193 on Gujarat earlier this week.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Congress chief whip Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said specific questions, like to whom the caretaker Narendra Modi government would be answerable if something went wrong before the assembly election, or why the government was shying away from tabling the list of all 60 victims of the carnage in Godhra, were put to Advani.

Dasmunshi, who had written to the speaker on Thursday urging him to advise the government to respond to 15 such unanswered questions, read them all out in the House.

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, his party colleague Ramji Lal Suman, and Communist Party of India, Marxist, leader Somnath Chatterjee said they would not co-operate with the government unless these queries were answered and joined Dasmunshi in pressing for Advani to come to the House and make a statement.

But Speaker Joshi pointed out that there was no precedent of a minister coming back to answer queries after his reply to a particular debate.

He suggested instead that members raise the issue in some other form or seek a reply in writing.

Alternatively, he offered to hold a meeting with leaders of major political parties in his chamber to sort out the issue.

Chatterjee also expressed discontent with a clarification issued by the deputy prime minister through a Press Information Bureau release about his reply to the Gujarat debate. He demanded that Advani clarify that matter as well.

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